Hole in Roof
Originally uploaded by Points North.
One day I went tootling to my shed, opened the door, and came face to bleary eyes with two raccoon cubs, nestled in a basket of rocks up against the door. They looked up, stretched, I slammed the door shut...well, attempted to, as someting stopped it. Oh, oh. One of these critters had his paw, specifically his long sharp claws, in the jamb. I gingerly reached past them to grab my fork (or was it the shovel, whatever came to hand first!) and went round to the hinge side of the door and gently poked at the errant paw. Blink, blink is all the response I got. Hmmm...as long as they remained sleepy, I was OK, I figured, and they were small. So maybe poke harder? I didn't want to hurt the poor bugger, but I had to close that door! So I poked harder. He stretched, pushed his paw further toward me, and settled back down. Drat it, why didn't he move his paw out?! Poke, poke, poke. Suddenly the paw retracted, and this time I slammed the door shut. Pest control! That was my next thought.
Those guys are great. They'll trundle up to your house, doggie riding shotgun, regale you with raccoon horror stories as they check the premises for anywhere the raccoons could be hiding-- mama bear had turfed the cubs for an afternoon stroll. Then he nailed raccoon proof mesh wherever there was a gap in the shed.
This stuff is seriously thick and strong. The raccoons couldn't chew through it nor pry it off. The pest guy had locked them out. But, as they "say," if you can't get it off, chew the roof tiles instead! Sometime this past winter, they got that brilliant idea. Still, there are no signs of squirrels or raccoons mucking up my shed. Very odd. I think this is the raccoon equivalent of thumbing their nose.
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